Disclaimer: I do not own dynasty warriors I only own my OC An Zhang!
I swung my blade down in a move meant to lob off the head of my opponent. However he was able to bring his spear up just in time to block my attack. I jumped a way but the curve of the hook stayed around his spear. I smiled and pulled hard wrenching it from his grasp then with a spin I threw it away. A feral smile spread across my face. Finally! I was finally going to beat him! I lunged at him going for the kill but the bastard did a back flip and spun around to pick up his spear. I lunged at him again, this time in pure furry. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me off balance. Then he pulled my arm back behind my back and brought the blade of his spear to my neck. I was totally immobilized. "Dead" he said then released me. "You almost had me that time Àn Zhang. You are improving a lot. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if soon you'd be sent out to battle."
"I'll never be good enough to go into battle until I beat you Zhao Yun," I snapped.
"Come on little sister. If it were anyone else they would have been done for an hour ago." He consoled me. "I just know you really well. I can read your moves easily because I've been training with you for years. You are an amazing fighter. I bet that you could even take down Lu Bu with you skill. And no one comes close to your skill with a bow and arrow." I blushed and smiled.
"I'm sure there are plenty of other people who are better with a bow and arrow then me." I said modestly.
"When you can find me someone who can shoot a sparrow and fifty yards then I will concede that point," he challenged
"That was only once and I've never done it since. You know that." I scolded him
"Alright, alright." He said holding up his hands in surrender. "But that doesn't change the fact that you're amazing with all the animals not to mention how brilliant you are with training the new recruits. And you are one of the best healers that I've ever seen. And I have seen quite a few."
"That's because you're so reckless we you go into battle. Would it kill you to not leave yourself so isolated during battles?" I chasted him.
"Yes in fact it would. But that's not the point. You are a brilliant warrior An Zhang," he pressed. I looked at my older brother and shook my head at him.
"It's true what he says you know. You are a great warrior. Or as great as a woman can be anyway. But don't worry we won't hold it against you."
I felt my temper flare up but I clamped it down. "Nice to see you too Pang Tong. How are you?" I said tiredly.
"Quite well thank you. I was sent to come and get you. It seems that Lord Liu Bei has called a meeting and wants both of you there." he answered in his normal patronizing tone. Zhao Yun and I looked questioningly at him but he just shrugged and motioned for us to follow him. Despite our rocky relationship Pang Tong was actually one of my closest friends. The others being Xing Cai, Wei Yan, and Guan Ping. We five often trained together and kept each other's company. Xing Cai and I being the only girls in our group bonded and became close to inseparable. We were often at the other's house. We were never apart for longer than a day. Neither one of us had ever seen any battle unlike my brother, Pang Tong and Wei Yan. Guan Ping was the only other one of our group who had yet to see battle.
Pang Tong, Wei Yan and I always joked that we were the outcasts of Shu. We were different. I had been adopted by Zhao Tang, Zhao Yun's father. As I grew older I found that I wasn't like the rest of my family. My face was more round, like a babe. My hair, instead of being long, strait, and black, was a warm chestnut brown with blonde highlights that fell in waves down my back. I had long curly eyelashes that framed my almond shaped eyes. My eyes weren't brown; instead they were a strange purple blue colour like the colour of grape hyacinths. And instead of the ivory complexion of the rest of my family I was softly tanned like light coffee with cream in it. But my appearance wasn't what caused me the most trouble.
I was different from all the other girls that I knew. I was loud, stubborn, and bullheaded with a bad temper. Not only that but I was also the head of an elite company of – for lack of a better word – spies. We were the best in Shu. But I was still unable to sneak up on Pang Tong. It was something that had always irked me and Pang Tong never failed to rub salt in the wound whenever I got called out onto an assignment. I also had opinions about things and I never passed up an opportunity to tell others my opinion. I read everything that I could get my hands on. I loved hearing stories and writing them down so I could read them again later. I was interested in politics. I lived off of music and had a music box that had seven different songs on it. I loved sword play and had always had a natural talent for it. And the same went for Archery. I loved nature and was able to survive in the wilderness on my own for months at a time. I hung out with a bunch of guys. I only had one friend who was a girl. I was as different from the others as the sun is to the moon. I had often been ridiculed for it until Xing Cai came along. She was quiet and sincere and the perfect daughter. She was normal. Not to mention kind and sincere. We were like two heads of a coin, we just went together. She was the closest thing to a sister that I ever had.
But then again I was also an adept healer and I cared deeply for the animals that I kept. I had a black Persian cat name Midnight, who I had saved when I was two. As well I had two horses, Alisha and Stephan. I also had two birds, a nightingale named Nala and a blue Jay named Dalmsaca and six dogs. There was Blato, a wolf dog that I had got from a trader at the bazaar. Next there was Sheena, a Pure Bread Sheppard dog. When I had been dropped on Zhao Tang's doorstep she had stood watch over me. She treated me as if I was one of her pups. And I loved her dearly. Then there was Lucky who was a golden retriever. He was a loyal partner in crime along with Baxter who was actually Lucky and Sheena's son. Honey was sweet and quiet when around people that she was familiar with. She was our guard dog and I could always count on her to warn me of someone approaching. She was a great fighting partner.
Anyway, we made it to the palace in about ten minutes. We were escorted to the strategy room and I was stunned into silence when we walked in. Everyone was there. Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Guan Ping, Zhang Fei, Xing Cai, Yue Ying, Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wei, Wei Yan, Ma Chao and Huang Zhong. All of the most influential people of Shu gathered together in one room. Pang Tong took his place beside Wei Yan, Zhao Yun walked to his place to the right of Liu Bei and his two sworn brothers and I stepped beside him. Once the door was firmly shut and everyone was in their place Liu Bei began the meeting.
"I have decided with the advice of my council that Shu shall join the campaign to stop yellow turbans. They are a plague that has been sweeping across our land and they must be stopped. We shall be working with Wu and Wei for this battle. He Jin shall be the commander. However you still report to me. I wish for Guan Yu, Guan Ping, Zhang Fei, Xing Cai, Wei Yan, Pang Tong, Zhao Yun and An Zhang to accompany me on this campaign."
We were all shocked. Zhuge Liang looked betrayed. Huang Zhong was smirking at him and he seemed like he was just barley controlling his laughter. I'm sure that my jaw was hanging open like a cat fish. "I wish to take the younger warriors out to see how they will fair under real battle conditions," Liu Bei added. "Guan Ping, Xing Cai, you will be will be serving as lieutenants under fathers Àn Zhâng you will be serving as your brother's lieutenant," We all bowed and said a respectful 'thank you sir'. "Àn Zhâng I want you especially to come with me to the strategy meeting that He Jin is holding. I have been observing your skills closely and I'm sure that you shall be of great value to us,"
"Of course I would be greatly honored to accompany you, my lord." I replied.
"Good we shall leave tomorrow at first light. Dismissed." We filed out of the room and started to head home. I slowed down to talk with my friends.
"Wei Yan… Don't want… you go… strategy meeting… Wei Yan… bad feeling." Wei Yan said. He was still having difficulty with our language but he knew enough that we could understand him.
"As do I," Pang Tong agreed. "Strategy is one of the talents you lack so I can't fathom why they would want you there. However if you keep studying hard I'm sure that later you will master it as you have done with many other things in the past."
"You make it sound like I couldn't beat a babe at checkers. I am competent at strategies. However I am not a so called genius like you or Zhuge Liang." I countered.
"You have to admit it is a bit strange," Xing Cai argued. "You said yourself that you aren't the best strategist, and Lord Liu Bei is already bringing Pang Tong. The other kingdoms are sure to be bringing their strategists along so why would you be needed?"
"I think I know," Guan Ping interrupted. "Àn Zhâng your unit specializes in reconnaissance. Lord Liu Bei will probably ask you to do a little snooping to see what the Yellow Turbans have planned for us."
"And it would make him look good in front of Lord He Jin who is representing the Hans," Pang Tong added. "Gathering information on the enemy. It's a good plan really, having spies as capable as you makes it easy for us strategists to formulate tactics." I glared at him. "What? I meant that as a compliment."I sighed, shook my head and continued walking. Pang Tong continued talking, as per usual. "Still I can't believe I didn't see it first. And to have someone like you find the correct answer before I do Guan Ping," Pang Tong shook his head, "I must be getting rusty."
"Pang Tong must you be so disagreeable?" I asked with a sigh.
"Its part of my charm," he answered.
"What charm…." Wei Yan muttered. Xing Cai and I giggled.
Pang Tong left with a huff and grumbling about how no one appreciated his talents. Wei Yan and Guan Ping went off in search of some good wine and Xing Cai and I went to pack our things for the battle.
The first thing I grabbed was my medicine bag. It had everything I needed for healing broken bones to curing a high fever. I was a healer first, warrior second and I didn't feel complete without having some kind of medicine kit with me. I took my iconic twin hooks with me as well as a pair of sai's and my long bow. I had my own special brand of arrows also.
The arrow heads were coated with a lethal dose of poison made from the Adenium obesum or as it's more commonly referred to as the Desert Rose. The leaves and steam spew a gooey liquid that is then applied to the arrow. The arrows have to be stored properly or the goo will dry out. I always keep some extra of the poison with me in case I need to re-apply it while traveling. I also found that in small doses the different parts of the plant can also be used to treat many various illnesses. The arrows were decorated with dark roses that were etched onto the shaft and the feathers were dyed such a dark red that they looked almost black.
The arrows were a birthday gift from my mother on the day I turned ten years old. She said that they were to mark the ten years that she was able to watch her little "Dark Rose" bloom. (The translation of my name was literally Dark Rose). Along with the bow and arrows there was a special battle costume. The skirt was designed to look exactly like rose petals. The top was just a simple white blouse underneath a dark off-black red, no-sleeve tunic with gold edging and blood red roses decorating the bottom. The boots were knee high and had dark red laces tied up in a corset like style.
It was beautiful and Xing Cai all but ordered me to bring it. But I wanted to wear my other battle costume. It was just as beautiful. This battle costume was designed to look like it had real dragon scales. The costume itself was made to go along with my nick name that Zhao Yun gave me when we were young. "The Dragon Princess" he called me. The helmet looked like a dragon's head and covered the entire top half of my face. There were eye holes of course but they were covered with glass so that no shards were able to puncture my eye. The skirt came to my knee and had little slits in the side. My mid drift was bare but the top was a mixture of plate male and chain. My right shoulder was cover in chain and I had a special glove made that covered my hand and ended right at my elbow. My left shoulder was clothed with scales down the side and a shoulder guard with little fins. It was amazing. It looked like I was wearing real scale mail.
And how could I not bring my regular Shu uniform? I would wear it on the way there when we met up with He Jin's group and the others. It was a cute plain little costume. It was green white and gold. It had long sleeves and a high neck-line there was a decorative breast plate and a little sash that came down on a slant around my hip. The skirt came down to just above my knee and had white knee high socks and heals that had ribbon that wrapped around my leg to about mid-calf. It was soo cute.
But there was one more costume that I had to bring. It was for when I did reconnaissance missions. It was all black. The outfit consisted of tight black leggings, a pair of my favorite black ankle boots, a black short sleeve tunic dress, and a black half mask that covered my nose and mouth, with a black belt and gloves to match.
That one she let me bring under protest. She didn't like the thought of me sneaking around behind enemy lines and away from where I could be easily protected. I hated that everyone thought that I needed protecting. I could take care of myself just fine thank you very much. And I didn't need anyone doing things that were for my own good.
I snatched my hair brush and my soaps off my dresser and stuffed them into my pack. I also needed a few scrolls on different military strategies. Then there was my little music box and the newest story I was reading. It was about a young girl who fell in love with a prince who was actually a dragon. It was a very sad story. I didn't know how it ends but right now all hope seemed lost for the two young lovers. Against my better judgment I took my sketch kit. Drawing was a new favorite hobby of mine and I was quite good. I then took some regular arrows so that I could get in a few practice shots while waiting for battle.
Once I was finished packing we went over to Xing Cai's room and I helped her pack. She took her purple costume and her standard green and white costume. She took her best weapon, the Ambition along with her soaps and a set of cards. She was secretly very good at poker. She was even able to beat Pang Tong five games in a row. She took her hair brush and things and she grabbed an old stuffed doll when she thought that I wasn't looking. But that was ok with me. I had grabbed the old blanket that I had been found in, and the perfume that lingered on the blanket. I had found a bottle of it after many years of searching and long after the smell had faded. But as soon as I smelled it I knew. My birth mother must have worn that perfume and it was nice to have that small part of her.
When we were all done packing we went out to practice some fighting before we went to bed. But before we could start practice the blacksmith came. "I have your orders ready. They match your instructions to the letter milady,"
"Thank you!" I said and went over to look. I had ordered a rapier and a very special kind of buster blade. It was actually seven blades in one and I could attached and detach them at will.
"Those look amazing!" Xing Cai said.
"Would you like to help me practice with them?" I asked
"Of course! Pass me the rapier. Maybe this time I'll finally beat you." She replied
"Fat chance Xing Cai," I smiled as I handed her the sword. And the fight began. I found that I was able to get the blades apart insanely quickly and even though they must have weighed a ton I was able to swing them as easily as my twin hooks. It was a fun practice but I wasn't nearly good enough with them to bring them tomorrow. They would have to wait for another battle. We went in and Xing Cai and I cooked supper together for her dad and my brother. We had a grand time and everyone seemed very excited for the next day. Finally we all parted ways and went to bed.